Angel Street Permaculture Garden is a 1 hectare site located on Department of Education land on Angel Street, Newtown, behind Newtown Public School. It was established in 1991 as a result of a failed attempt by a community group of over 1000 people 2 to secure Sydney Park in St Peters as a city farm site. The back-down by South Sydney Council on this bid led the group to approach other bodies for access to land; the school subsequently granted tenancy. The garden was initially funded by a grant from SSC as a waste reduction initiative.
The compression of such a large group onto such a reduced site proved problematic and led to a situation of antagonism between individuals favouring bush regeneration and those hoping to grow food. Meetings became dominated by the individuals favouring bush regeneration and eventually attendance and membership disintegrated. In 1992, a door-knocking campaign was held announcing the concrete on the Newtown site was to be dug up to allow gardening; interest consequently reawakened. Eventually, remaining members of the bush regeneration group departed, leaving the garden to three of its five current core gardeners, who converted it to its current form as a communal permaculture site, with a constitution and zoning plan.
New members find out about this garden through a number of channels. Permaculture literature such as Permaculture International Journal and the Web are seen as important sources of interest. The garden’s visibility and signage at street level (see plate 3.1) encourages direct inquiries at the site. A communication breakdown led to the garden’s exclusion from an open day initiative; however, the quick placement of a chalk notice on the gate sign’s blackboard enticed 15 or 20 passers-by. Alfalfa House 3 is a source of new members; an item on Gardening Australia also generated a lot of interest. Information concerning the garden seems to travel quite far, with recent visitors coming from Queensland and Cuba.
Plate 3.1. The entrance to Angel Street Permaculture Garden.
The garden is run on a communal basis, with gardeners sharing harvests. The five year plan is explained when members join. Membership is secured by arranging a time to meet one of the core gardeners, who will lead a tour of the garden and "feel them out": that is, try to develop a sense of who the newcomer is. New members register and purchase a key to the garden gate, which is kept locked due to past vandalism. A member new to gardening is set to work with planting annual seeds of their choice in the greenhouse, which fosters close contact with emerging seedlings and an understanding of how various plants look and behave. Responsibilities and tasks build with increasing knowledge. Seeds and tools are bought and maintained by individual members. Gardeners meet on Saturday mornings; harvested food is shared out on a table.
Decisions regarding planting, especially tree placement, are made through consultation between the gardeners. The garden is planned according to its aspect and topography, with the initial focus on establishing forest and orchard areas. The areas for annuals are becoming the focus of the garden; discussion regarding the garden’s plan are either raised at the quarterly working bees, or by dropping in to discuss it with others. One gardener referred to the need to approach the garden as a communal area in a share house, with much the same concerns and considerations. The implementation of permaculture practices and philosophy was seen as helpful as it provides a base to which gardeners can refer to help the decision making process and maintain direction and clarity.
Two instances were cited where conflict had become an issue; both were fairly extreme instances of individuals becoming involved then implementing their own areas or activities which were seen as inappropriate, such as ripping up irrigation, pulling up plants, not contributing their own labour or selling produce for profit. Both individuals refused to discuss their behaviour and left under an air of unresolved antagonism.
A threat to the garden’s continuance revealed both the strongest and also the most antagonistic local ties the garden has experienced. An after school group — itself comprised of local neighbours — approached the Department of Education for access to the land, which they perceived as unused. The principal of the school, who knew of and supported the garden, was not consulted. Many locals supported the garden in its campaign to retain tenure, including individuals involved in the initial drive for the Sydney Park city farm. The issue was resolved by the principal offering an alternative parcel of land to the after school group and resulted in an increase in garden membership numbers.
While the garden has been visited frequently by other garden groups and has hosted an ACFCGN meeting, its current situation within the ACFCGN is troublesome. As documented later in this chapter, ACFCGN represent a channel for interaction with other gardens, promotion and advocation. Currently, communication seems poor, with ACFCGN relying on email, to which core gardeners do not have access, causing them to miss announcements or meetings. South Sydney Council is also involved in the garden from time to time, providing an initial grant through its waste reduction program and assisting with collection and/or delivery of bulk matters. One gardener described the support as "often unofficial" and involving getting access to a sympathetic individual within Council. The Surry Hills mounted police stables also frequent the garden, delivering stable manure for the compost.
The school has had various interactions with the garden. Initial student vandalism diminished partly as the children adjusted to its presence and partly due to the imposition of an ‘out of bounds’ area adjoining the garden. There had been limited attempts to involve the students: one teacher holds a key to the garden, but the site is used only in terms of plant recognition and art.
What the garden means to participants
The role of the Angel Street garden as a community space was seen by participants as significant; one gardener recalled a woman walking in from the street and talking to her about some personal problems. The gardener thought the woman must have felt she was a safe or appropriate person to confide in. Other community members use the space for recycling materials, a source of weeds to feed to pet birds, or somewhere to walk the dog; local organic produce shops bring leftovers down to the compost.
The garden was seen as an important space for learning various permaculture and organic gardening techniques; one gardener uses the site to gain this knowledge before embarking on an overseas trip as a conservation volunteer. The need for gardeners to feel ‘at home’ in the garden was stressed. There are four non-compulsory working bees a year, based on the occurrence of the solar equinoxes and solstices. Gardeners are free to turn up as they please and are encouraged to see the garden as an extension of their own backyard.
Issues identified by the garden group
The core issues emerging from the garden were those of being included in the information channels of the ACFCGN and increasing the number of core members, which was claimed to be inhibited by the transient, mostly renting local population, which tends to undermine long term stability.
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